With the ability to run the GNU tool chain including GCC, binutils, and GNU make, the Genode OS framework has taken another big step towards becoming a general-purpose OS. The just released version 12.05 introduces Genode's file-system infrastructure along with support for stacked file systems, extends the framework API with support for configuring system components on-thy-fly, and adds media replay capabilities.

The Genode project is really the most impressive general-purpose OS development out there. Congratulation to the team. I do hope it will stay under active development several more years, there will definitely be a use case for it sooner or later.

Being completely new to Genode OS I find the whole thing quite fascinating. They've actually managed to implement many of the things I've complained about for years and they've seemingly managed to do it all in functional way. "The principle of least possible privileges" is something that should have been implemented on mobile devices YEARS ago already, so I really hope Genode OS will gain some traction sooner or later in the mobile device industry.

Thanks for the encouraging words. Even though Genode does not yet qualify for being called a general-purpose OS, it is definitely the goal to get there in the not-too-distant future.

I can imagine it requiring quite a boatload of work still to get it there, but.. well, to be honest, the improved security model is definitely worth it IMHO.

Too bad, though, that it's unlikely to attract much attention from the big manufacturers, mostly because the mobile device OS - market is already quite crowded. If it were to ever gain their attention, though.. well, the implications could be huge.

As an aside: how's the ARM-support on it? I'm likely getting a Pandaboard soon, would love to try Genode OS on it first-hand.

Regarding Fiasco.OC - long term is the aim to have it at the core of the operating system? what is the driver API like compared to other platforms? is there a move to LLVM maybe at a later date given the heavy lifting which Apple and others are providing by way of C++ 2011 functionality being added?

Fiasco.OC is one of the kernels that can be used at the core of the Genode system. But it is only one among several kernels. Alternatively, you may opt to use NOVA, OKL4, Pistachio, or even Linux. Each of those kernels has different pros and cons. It is up to the user of Genode to pick the kernel that fits best for her/him.

The driver API is, in the line of all Genode's API, a C++ interface. In addition, there exists a C wrapper called DDE kit, which is primarily intended to ease the porting of device drivers (typically written in C) from other platforms.

Switching from GCC to LLVM is not planned. From what I gathered so far, LLVM is pretty intriguing and I am tempted to explore it. But on the other hand, we are actually quite happy with our current GCC-based tool chain.

Do you have compelling and tangible arguments for investing development time on switching Genode to LLVM over the many other topics on our road map?